Tenzing acquires Smoothwall in MBO

Following the deal, the GP intends to back the incumbent senior management team, Michael Marks, Nicola Sharp, Gavin Logan and Terry Heath.

Once finalised, Michael Marks, formerly group COO, will become group CEO. He will be supported by Lisa Stone as chairperson, formerly a founding partner at HgCapital where her principal focus was in software and technology-driven service businesses.

Tenzing was founded in 2015 by Robert Jones and Guy Gillon, both formerly partners at Bluebird Partners. In March 2016, Tenzing recruited former Inflexion Private Equity partner Christian Hamilton as co-managing partner, before appointing HgCapital founder Ian Armitage as non-executive board member five months later.

The GP held a final close for its maiden fund on its £200m hard-cap in January 2017, after three months on the road. The fund targets buyout investments in UK businesses valued at £10-50m.

Company
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Leeds, Smoothwall offers web filtering technology for the education and public sectors. It serves 7,400 UK institutions and has established a footprint in the US.

Advisers
Equity – DWF (legal); Fairgrove Partners (commercial due diligence); BDO (financial due diligence).
Company – Argyll Partners (corporate finance); Squire Patton Boggs (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Technology
• UK / Ireland
• Tenzing
• BDO LLP
• Squire Patton Boggs